Justin Bieber cancels meet and greets due to 'depression'

Justin Bieber thinks socialising with fans at meet and greets is bad for his mental health.

The Sorry star recently kicked off his Purpose World Tour and is currently in Los Angeles, where he will play the third of a three-night residency at the Staples Center on Wednesday (23Mar16).

However, he took to Instagram.com on Tuesday (22Mar16) to tell his followers he will no longer be holding meet and greet sessions prior to his future gigs since the encounters have been leaving him disheartened.

Bieber posted a photo of himself hugging a young fan at a past session, and wrote, "Love u guys.. I'm going to be canceling my meet and greets. I enjoy meeting such incredible people but I end up feeling so drained and filled with so much of other people's spiritual energy that I end up so drained and unhappy..

"Want to make people smile and happy but not at my expense and I always leave feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression .. The pressure of meeting people's expectations of what I'm supposed to be is so much for me to handle and a lot on my shoulders. Never want to disappoint but I feel I would rather give you guys the show and my albums as promised."

He concluded, "Can't tell you how sorry I am, and wish it wasn't so hard on me.. And I want to stay in the healthy mindset I'm in to give you the best show you have ever seen."

The news came hours after fans in Los Angeles who purchased the expensive meet and greet passes were notified by officials at Bkstg, the company in charge of the superstar’s VIP packages, that Bieber would no longer be meeting with fans individually due to a prior "security incident".

A statement on their website read: "During a recent show, there was a security incident that caused our team to have to meet and re-think how meet and greets were handled. This is a new tour with new venues almost every night and still a changing process, but we have decided for the time being that this is our best course of action.

"We are letting everyone affected know, are offering refunds, and are also offering the alternative of a VIP hangout where both pics and videos can be taken of Justin, just no longer a group pic with him."

The VIP hangout passes now include access to a backstage lounge where the pop star will be mingling alongside his dancers and band, but he won't be taking individual shots with fans.

His decision also comes after he took to Twitter following his first Los Angeles concert on Sunday (20Mar16), seemingly slamming so-called "fans" in the city for being fake.

He wrote, "La is so fake they drain me until im dry (sic)."